


From Dawn 'til Dusk

by HaroThar



Category: She-Ra and the Princesses of Power (2018)
Genre: Autistic Characters Written By An Autistic Author, Canon Autistic Character, Copious amounts of hydration, Domestic, Domestic Fluff, Established Relationship, Etheiran Maker's Guild, F/F, Illustrated, Married Couple, Married Life, Non-Canon Autistic Character, Paperwork, Scorpia POV, Scorpia gets good things, She-Ra Fluff Bang 2020, Slice of Life
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-30
Updated: 2020-07-30
Packaged: 2021-03-06 05:40:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,920
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25618222
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HaroThar/pseuds/HaroThar
Summary: When she wakes up, when she works, when she plays, and when she falls asleep at night, there her lover is.A day in the life with Scorpia and Entrapta. And, of course, their sweet robo-daughter!
Relationships: Entrapta/Scorpia (She-Ra)
Comments: 11
Kudos: 31





	From Dawn 'til Dusk

**Author's Note:**

> A special thanks to [animatodraws](https://animatodraws.tumblr.com/) for the illustrations! We partnered up for this bang and I'm so delighted <3
> 
> Thanks as well to [pinkhaired-baller](https://pinkhaired-baller.tumblr.com/) and [kirrafirewolf](https://kirrafirewolf.tumblr.com/) for acting as my betas! I appreciate it!

Sunlight crested over the mountain castle like it rarely ever had before the Heart’s magic was returned to Etheria. The lightning storms so characteristic of Dryl’s scenery were both less frequent and more intense, the electrical rods traditional to Dryl’s architecture struck rapidly, repeatedly, all at once, and then not at all for days. Within the castle walls, far enough from the laboratory to remain untouched by explosions yet close enough to only be a short walk away, the royal suite slowly filled with dawn. Light cascaded softly over the back of the well-worn asymmetric couch, the dozens if not hundreds of photographs in frames or hung with laundry clips from colorful ribbons, and, of course, the massive bed. In it, Scorpia drooled and Entrapta snored softly.

With a jolt, Scorpia flung herself up to sitting as she loudly proclaimed, “Good morning world!”

It was a habit she’d never managed to kick. Fortunately, Entrapta did not mind beyond a daily “Hngnkg-gunnhhngh!” as she startled awake, hair twisting and curling every which way. She flopped back down with a yawn before melting back into the purple pillows, hair limp and body soft.

“Good morning sweetie,” Scorpia greeted, much quieter, bracing her claw on the pillow above Entrapta’s head so she could bend down and kiss her. Entrapta opened her eyes just a sliver, smiling, then closed them again with a contented little wiggle back under the covers Scorpia had dislodged. Scorpia took a moment to just stare at her, savor it, before she got out of bed and more firmly tucked the blanket over Entrapta’s bare shoulder.

She stretched her claws high above her head, belly thrust forward and nightgown riding up over her knees before releasing with a big sigh. She dropped to touch her claws to her toes and stretched her tail up high behind her, then rose with a roll of her shoulders and neck. “Wake up, check,” she announced quietly, mindful of the dozing mass of purple goo behind her. She walked into their ensuite bathroom and got down to business. She brushed and flossed her teeth, washed her face, moisturized, and then rubbed lotion on her biceps, feet, and legs with a specialty loofah that had been designed specifically for this task. It was woven to be tear-and-slice resistant, but even so, Scorpia was careful as she pinced the smooth material and ran it over her skin. Her exoskeleton might enjoy arid climates, but the softer parts of her were in disagreement.

That done, she returned to the bedroom and smiled to see Entrapta on her side of the bed now, arms wrapped and nose buried in Scorpia’s pillow. “You’re cute,” she said with another kiss to the top of Entrapta’s head, earning a quiet hum. Scorpia turned to the closet, next. Technically, since this was the royal suite, the two closets were intended to be one for each person, but since Scorpia’s clothes were so much larger by necessity and she’d accumulated so _many_ of them since the defeat of Prime, Entrapta was just fine letting Scorpia treat them as two halves of one whole. Scorpia surveyed her options with one pointed claw tip tapping at her chin, pondering. Autumn in Dryl was rapidly growing cooler, so probably nothing with a short skirt.

She clacked her pincer twice, summoning her bots-in-waiting, and pulled out a long black dress with a high neck, a heart-shaped cutout over her bust, and multiple bright red godets spouting forth from just above the knee. “Morning Shirley, morning Beverly.” The two robots beeped and whirred happily back at her, bidding her good morning as well and complimenting her choice in attire for the day. They helped her out of her nightgown and into the dress, taking care of the fastens that her claws would’ve struggled badly with. Of all the gifts Entrapta gave Scorpia (and she gave her many; gifts were right up there with acts of service in her love languages), attendants with opposable thumbs were probably the most useful.

On the bed, Entrapta’s eyes were open and her lips curved into a smile, still making no move to get up. When they had first moved in together, the attention had turned Scorpia bright red and flustered, bashful under her lover’s gaze. Now, being watched throughout her morning preparations was as routine as the rest of it. Crossing to her vanity, Scorpia paused to give Entrapta a quick peck on the lips, then sat in front of the mirror.

She’d done her makeup every day in the Horde, so she didn’t actually need any help with that. She did enjoy allowing her bots to brush through her hair as she ran the lipstick over her upper lip, feeling pampered, and she handed the day’s earrings to Shirley as she applied her eyeliner. They were magnet backs, so Scorpia _could_ put the earrings on herself if she really wanted to, but why struggle with the things when she had bots to do it for her? The girls also polished the metal caps on top of her shoulder spikes, Entrapta’s gift to her when they got engaged, the tips blunted for safer hugging and the metal shining with Entrapta’s mark on Scorpia. The two largest caps also had little rings on the back that a cape could be fastened to, should the mood strike her, and Scorpia considered it briefly before dismissing it. It wasn’t quite _that_ cold out yet.

She spun in her seat and asked Beverly to go get her black low wedge heels, and let them take care of that hassle for her as well. “Thanks girls! Can you go let Darryl know we’ll take breakfast soon?” With affirmative beeps, they zoomed out of the room and Scorpia stood and spun. Looking herself over in the mirror, she gave a grin and a saucy little wink. “Looking sharp, check!”

She settled her garnet tiara onto her head and took in a deep breath. “Breathe in the new day, check.”

She returned to the bed once again, Entrapta not moved from the spot, and stroked a claw through the winding river of her purple hair. “Nudge wife out of bed…”

Entrapta made a displeased noise, but her face was still soft and smiling so Scorpia nudge-nudge-nudged her in the hip. Entrapta repeated the noise, louder, and Scorpia gently gripped Entrapta’s thigh through the blanket and began dragging her. Entrapta giggled, popped up, kissed Scorpia square on the mouth, and then hopped out of bed.

“Check!” Scorpia announced happily, perhaps a little red across the cheeks.

Entrapta stretched, hair flaring out like a hand fan, oil-stained tank top riding up over the hem of her purple boxers. She then propped herself up on her hair so she could yank her overalls up, toed into her shoes without bothering to unlace them, pulled her dark purple overshirt on, tied her hair up in pigtails, and slipped her face guard up onto the top of her head. “Alright!” she said perkily, fastening the red stud earrings that had been Scorpia’s engagement gift to her, “Let’s go get weird!”

Scorpia gave her an encouraging nod, although Scorpia’s work for the day was probably going to be significantly less weird than Entrapta’s. They moved to the main sitting room of the royal suite, where Darryl was just finishing setting down a couple platters of tiny breakfast foods, and he bowed before trotting off.

“Morning Emily!” they greeted simultaneously, and their little round robot beeped cheerfully back at them. Scorpia settled onto the couch while Entrapta patted their daughter with a pigtail, taking the lids off the platters and admiring what the kitchen staff had made for them that morning.

Tiny rounds of toast topped with melted cheese and bacon bits, devilled eggs (and only the smallest eggs were used for the princesses), and cubed cantaloupe and watermelon pierced on the same toothpicks as green and red grapes were on the menu, and Scorpia popped a cheesy-bacony-toast circle into her mouth with a pleased noise. A regular-sized mug of tea wafted gently on the table, and a line of shot glasses filled with a neon blue, caffeinated fizzy beverage awaited Entrapta. Netossa had given them the shot glasses as a “joke gift” alongside her and Spinnerella’s actual wedding gifts, but in all honesty Entrapta got more use out of them than most of what they’d received. 

As they ate, Entrapta pulled out her recorder and listened to her logs from the day before. Here and there she would scribble down a note on her pad, highlighting relevant information for the work she’d do today, and twice she paused the recording to ask Emily to do a visual playback of certain details. Scorpia mostly just let it happen, contentedly making her way through the meat, cheese, eggs, and fruit, comfortable in their routine. When the tea was just on the right side of cooled down, she lifted it beneath her nose and took a deep inhale.

“I am strong, brave, loyal, and I give great hugs,” she murmured to herself, too quiet to disrupt Entrapta’s morning ritual of catching herself back up to speed on what she’d been doing the night before. She took a deep drink, and then leaned back on the couch with her eyes closed. She let the voice of her lover wash over her, not really understanding what Entrapta was saying but just happy to be in the same space, spending time with one another, listening to her talk about things she was ever so clearly impassioned about. Occasionally she would take a sip of her tea, until it was on the wrong edge of cool and knocked the remainder back in one swig.

“OH RIGHT!” Entrapta exclaimed, vaulting over the back of the couch and sprinting out the door. Scorpia jolted, tail twitching, and watched the door swing slowly shut in Entrapta’s wake, her wife already long gone.

“...Emily, could you make sure she has a water bottle on hand for me?”

Affirmative beeping.

“Thanks hon. I should be in the square for most of the morning,” Scorpia said as she rose, setting the empty mug down on the table.

Stepping outside, part of her instinctively braced for shouting, running, busy motion rushing this way and that, even here years down the road. But Dryl castle’s square was the same as it had been for weeks. Busy, yes, but nothing panicked or on fire (yet (too early in the day for that)). Senior members of the Etherian Makers Guild who set up semi-permanent residence in Dryl during the warm months were busy setting up for the day, the blacksmith’s forge heating up, the potters wedging their clay, the carpenters already arguing about different types of wood. 

“Getting a head start on the day?” Scorpia teased as she passed them, nudging a woman who rivalled her in width as she walked.

“Aye! Princess, tell this mulchhead that if he uses cedar it’s all gonna fall apart on him in a year!”

“A year! Bah! At least I’ll have it for that year you spend wasting time making it with yer _walnut!”_

“You two have fun!” Scorpia called, leaving them to their squabbling. For two people who could never agree on anything, they managed to make a lot of really neat stuff.

Dryl, being a mining country, was also home to, well, miners. For the most part they lived in the townships and settlements that dotted Dryl’s mountain range, but a couple of experienced miners lived in the castle and worked the royal mine. Scorpia waved at them as they headed out, mugs of coffee and datapads carried in their hands, a couple sleepy waves returned her way.

Scorpia’s first task was to make a round of the castle square, ensuring that all residents, researchers, and vendors were setting up, safe, and had their needs met. This took longer than one might expect, because despite the fact that people did this quite literally every day, they always seemed to forget something or another, or had something crop up in the night, or were so blurred with sleep and routine they forgot a safety measure or three. Scorpia hardly minded, though, it was nice to chat with people and even when Dryl got _really_ exciting it still never quite matched the true, sheer, unadulterated pandemonium the Horde could get up to some mornings.

After that came the morning reports. Garfield and Petunia, two mobile bots who had mimics of Emily’s AI, caught her up to date on the events that had taken place since the morning before. This was a traditionally quiet event, Scorpia seated at her station near Dryl’s front gate with another mug of gently wafting tea pressed into her claws. 

The construction on Dryl’s Big River bridge was progressing smoothly. One of the storm drains near Three Falls was backed up, and workers in the Three Falls mine had filed a request for repairs to be made before they resumed work, lest a storm catch them by surprise. Scorpia signed off on the request right then, given its urgency, and copied the file before adding it to her afternoon’s work pile. 

Every so often Garfield and Petunia would be forced to pause as someone passed by Scorpia’s station and paused to say hello. People seemed to quite enjoy having a princess around who just… talked. And Scorpia was nearly always available, ready to listen and gossip and be _part_ of things! Everyone here was so involved with her! They liked her and _wanted_ to spend time with her and even though it was comfortably routine, now, it was still delightful in the same way a pretty dress and a warm mug of tea were delightful.

Reports and responses were paused once more when a newcomer arrived. Most—well, nearly all—arrivals happened during spring, right after the Big Thaw, and it was rare to receive one during autumn, but Scorpia brightened and greeted the man with a bright smile and a hug anyway.

“What brings you here!?” Scorpia asked cheerily, looking over his vehicle and trying to divine the purposes of his various tools and contraptions.

“Photography, m’um! I’ve made grand advancements with the technology available to me but I just _know_ there’s a better form of film out there if I can only grasp it! I’m hopin’ that a good bout of hullo’s with other creative minds will get me out of my slump and back on my wheels!”

Scorpia liked his energy! “Well, there’s plenty of creative minds here! Here, let me get you set up--ah, probably not next to the blacksmith, smoke doesn’t sound good for photos, oh, here, near the weaver’s group, oooo and maybe you can test stuff out on their works! I bet there are lots of details and colors you can check for in photos.”

“Brilliant! Many a thanks!”

Scorpia got the young man settled, hardly older than Frosta (and when had she gotten so tall?), and had just enough time to finish up with Garfield and Petunia before it was time for lunch.

“Man, you think I’d stop being impressed by how the time flies!” she joked, waving at an Elberonian who flitted past. Scorpia crossed the castle square with a spring in her step and her broad shoulders squared. The waves of people and robots parted for her, not because she was frightening, or a Force Captain, but because they valued her presence and respected her authority.

She was not above throwing her weight around _just a little_ for the pleasure that came with knowing that.

Entrapta’s lab had a service door big enough for a ship and a person-sized door that both emptied into the castle square, and Scorpia used the latter to find and fetch her wife. The smell of soldered wiring hit her nose the moment the door opened, and she sneezed delicately. Yeah, a lot of people tended to think she’d be a loud sneezer, but she didn’t really make noise unless she was thinking about it? She wasn’t sure why other people were always so loud about it.

She rounded a couple different work tables, all cluttered with organized mess, and was pleased to find a water bottle that was almost entirely empty! Of fizzy beverage, of course, so maybe calling it a “water” bottle was a misnomer, but either way! Hydration! Emily bumped into her with a happy whir and Scorpia patted her with a bright smile. “Well done, Emily! Now where’s—”

“Scorpia!” Entrapta shouted, popping out of a nearby vent. Scorpia startled, but she was well-rested so her control over her stinger didn’t even falter. Scorpia smiled as Entrapta proceeded to say a lot of words in quick succession, most of them words that Scorpia understood individually, but when strung together like that she lost all comprehension. She was good at tracking Entrapta’s tone, though, the way she went from excited to more excited to contemplative muttering before crescendoing in enthusiastic shrieking and a mad cackle.

“Sweetie that’s amazing!” Scorpia praised, clapping her claws with a broad smile and an only-slightly vacant look in her eyes. 

“Isn’t it!” Entrapta shouted, lifting herself up on her hair and ope! That was Scorpia’s cue! She gently, but firmly, gripped Entrapta by one of the bands of her overalls and dragged her down away from the vent she was about to launch into.

“Okay, I know you’re making great progress, but it’s also time for lunch.”

“But the _data!”_ Entrapta despaired, gesturing with both hands and both pigtails. Even so, she allowed herself to be gently coaxed over to the door that led back into the castle, Emily nudging her from the other side.

“But the ‘you have a human body with physical needs’ thing,” Scorpia reminded with a playful, knowing smile. Entrapta huffed, hopped up on her hair, and gave herself a little launch into Scorpia’s arms. Scorpia, who found her wife now very conveniently within kissing range, gave her a little smooch, and then, for good measure, a longer one.

They took lunch on the balcony, since pleasant weather and clear skies were always something to be taken advantage of in Dryl. Scorpia animatedly informed Entrapta of what she’d gotten up to that morning, official business, local gossip, the newcomer, all of it just spilling out of her in a happy cascade between bites. Entrapta’s recorder sat on the table between them, red button locked down. Entrapta did not look at Scorpia more than once or twice, but Scorpia never had any reason to doubt that she was listening. She always listened, after all. 

Scorpia tried to coax more fizzy beverage into Entrapta before they left the balcony, but Entrapta’s patience was wearing thin so Scorpia relented and the three of them made their way back to the lab, Emily occasionally collapsing into her ball mode and rolling ahead, then walking on her three legs back to where the women were. Entrapta launched herself right back into it, whatever “it” was, and Scorpia’s eyes tracked her first this way, then that way, and caught herself only when she sighed dreamily.

Well, more that Entrapta caught her when she sighed dreamily, lifting up her face guard with first an inquisitive look, then a pleased blush and little smile, lowering the shield back down and returning her attention to what she was doing. Scorpia lifted off the support beam she’d been leaning on and uncrossed her claws, walking to her desk.

The desk had been added to Entrapta’s lab shortly after moving in together, Scorpia needing something to do paperwork on but missing her wife if they had to stay apart for too long. So now she had a (mostly) explosion-free corner of the lab to sit and plug her way through official reports and documentation.

It was odd, in a way, how much she enjoyed it. When she’d taken care of Catra’s paperwork for her, the chore had been, well, a chore. A labor of love, but far from pleasant in itself. Though, that could’ve also been because she was doing all the paperwork of the second-in-command _while_ still taking care of her duties as Force Captain, so maybe she’d stretched herself a little thin there. But here, in Dryl, at _home,_ it was soothing. Important and necessary but repetitive and a little mindless for some of it.

Entrapta hated paperwork more than anything else on Etheria, and Scorpia had seen her literally cry from frustrated boredom when attempting to write research papers on the studies and experiments she’d conducted. So it worked out pretty well that Scorpia was a-okay taking care of all of the official stuff!

She settled contentedly into her chair, a commission from the carpenters to accommodate her tail so she could really _sit,_ and got down to business. The sound of Entrapta hard at work, the high pitched whirs of saw blades and the hollow flares of blow torches and the rapid clicking of computer keys, accompanied by occasional exclamations or prattling observations into her recorder, fell into a comfortable background noise. Some people listened to music when they worked, but Scorpia had the far-superior soundtrack of her wife. 

Darryl came by with a mid-afternoon snack for them: sweet peach tea for Scorpia, carbonated cola for Entrapta, and a plethora of tiny fruit tarts no larger than Entrapta’s thumb.

“Oh, they’re hearts! How cute!” Entrapta cooed, remembering to pull her glove off before eating one so she didn’t end up with a mouthful of soot. Scorpia always had to wonder if Entrapta had actually kicked the habit of eating with her dirty gloves and hair (which, she _walked_ on her hair! That wasn’t sanitary!) or if she just did it while Scorpia was around to humor her, and honestly? Scorpia didn’t want to know. Entrapta put in the effort for her and that was enough.

Entrapta picked up a particularly bright red strawberry tart, then leaned in, smiling up at Scorpia and craning upside down with her weight on her hair. “Hey.”

“Hey,” Scorpia said, curious and open.

Entrapta brought the tart up to Scorpia’s face, and Scorpia snorted, then opened her mouth and delicately took the sweet from Entrapta’s fingers. It made the two of them giggle, feeling young and silly and bright, but Scorpia was pretty sure that was just one of those perks about being married.

By the time Scorpia was wrapping up her paperwork for the day, Emily was visibly antsy, shifting on her limbs and her cooling fans on high drive that meant she was trying not to beep and whir. If she were a child, and not a robot, she would be sitting on her hands with her lips pursed tight, cheeks puffed up and restless legs swinging.

“Alright,” Scorpia said, packing up her files (she didn’t _leave_ anything important in Entrapta’s lab) and tucking them into her massive dress pockets. “Entrapta?” Scorpia called, “Sweetie, Emily and I are gonna go get some fresh air. Do you want me to send you a reminder or should I just leave you be?”

“Actually!” Entrapta said, popping her face mask up over her hair and taking a swipe at the sweat on her bangs. “I just reached a stopping spot!”

“Oh, convenient,” Scorpia said, claws on her hips, pleased.

Entrapta would pass on their afternoon walks maybe half the time, caught up in what she was doing and unwilling to sacrifice her momentum. Or just caught up in her experiments and forgetting. But Scorpia always liked to have her there, and Emily was exclusively delighted. She rolled around them in wide circles, beeping loud and fast, herding them out the door as the women laughed. Scorpia snagged an arm around Entrapta’s shoulders, pulling her in close, and the two shared a happy smile before leaving the lab. 

Dryl’s weather was not the only thing that had changed since Adora poured Etheria’s magic back into the earth. The mountains had been barren, hard dirt and harder rock faces everywhere they turned. Now, scrub sprouted up from every gap and wrinkle it could reach, moss clinging to the stone, and evergreen saplings dauntlessly growing in the newfound sun. Some of them even came straight out sideways from various cliff faces! Plants were incredible. 

Emily thought so too, happily scanning over assorted life she’d scanned dozens of times before, carefully cataloguing growth rates and patterns. She was so much like Entrapta, in that way. But the way she delightedly insisted on playing games? That she got from Scorpia. 

“Alright, fetch or eye-spy?” Scorpia asked, walking along the mountain pass with her claw on Entrapta’s shoulder and Entrapta’s pigtail around her waist. A series of clicks. “Eye-spy it is!”

“Oh! Oh! I spy a coniferous growth with upwards extending limbs that resemble a V!” Entrapta said, going first, and Emily and Scorpia scanned the area. Emily found it first, a fir tree growing behind a nearby boulder, and the three continued playing as they walked. All the paths near Dryl’s castle were familiar to them by now, but there were enough of them that their daily strolls never got boring (and Scorpia would always have to change shoes to take the western pass, that one was a hike!). 

They were nearly to their usual turn-around spot when Entrapta flung out her arms and hair, screeching, “WAIT!”

Scorpia and Emily froze, attention turned, and Entrapta pulled out her recorder and barely had her hair on the button before she was animatedly speaking, talking so fast her words nearly blurred together. “The agent that has been confounding me might not actually be an error in the programming but possibly an issue with the physical constraints of the chassis! If I move the unit to a more ventilated system it may yield results closer to the intended! Ha! That must be it!”

“Do we need to go back to the lab now?”

“We need to go back to the lab right now!” Entrapta was already scooping Scorpia up in her hair, rounding an about face and rushing back down the way they’d come. 

No matter how many times it happened, Scorpia still blushed with a squirmy feeling in her belly whenever Entrapta picked her up. It was just! That! So few people could or did! And, well, Scorpia liked being held. 

She left Entrapta in the lab, gleefully ripping open a machine Scorpia could've _swore_ she just finished putting together, and saw that dinner preparations were underway. She also pulled her paperwork from her massive dress pockets and filed them in what had previously started as her office and was now just a glorified, walk-in filing cabinet. When time came to wrangle Entrapta to the dining hall, the lab looked like a war zone. 

Dinner was a public event. The members of the Guild, permanent and semi-permanent residents of Dryl, and anyone who had wandered in through the front gate were welcomed and expected to join the princesses for supper. Scorpia delighted in it, pretty sure that sharing food and conversation was basically the best thing that anyone could possibly do. Entrapta had started out uncertain, but there was always a member of the Maker’s Guild ready to hear about Entrapta’s latest project or talk about their own, and Entrapta found conversation easy when it was about science. 

But when food was all eaten, those who were not members of the Guild made their way from the table. Scorpia liked to linger, happy to play hostess for as long as she could, until it was just her and a bunch of people talking about things she knew nothing about. This was when Entrapta really got to shine, seeking input from the other Guild members, listening to their conundrums and projects and offering advice of her own. Scorpia loved to see her animated, engaged, but she also was very much left out. Not a lot she could contribute to the conversation.

She stood, and depending on which portion of Etheria the members hailed from, some stood as well in respect, others simply nodded at her before returning to their conversations, and she kissed Entrapta chastely before taking her leave. 

“What now, Emily?” Scorpia mused, her little darling walking along beside her. “We could see if the Pastry Dame is up for a game of cards,” Scorpia suggested, “we could read a book, maybe--oh! We could video call Sea Hawk!”

Emily beeped happily, confirming the decision Scorpia had already made. With a spring in her step, Scorpia returned to the royal wing of the castle and settled herself onto the couch, her pad in claw. Since Sea Hawk and Mermista didn’t keep their matching pad on hand, what with the dangerous adventures they got up to, her call was answered by the man who might have been a guard, might have been a butler, might have been a secretary. Scorpia genuinely didn’t know what his job was. She _did_ know that he was very loyal to Mermista and would stay by her side come thick or thin, and didn’t much care for Mermista’s taste in, ah, men.

“Hello!” Scorpia greeted brightly, waving a little. “Good to see you again! Is Sea Hawk available?”

“I shall fetch him for you, ma’am.”

“Thanks!”

Scorpia hummed contentedly to herself as she waited, reaching out a pincer to pass gently over the top of her daughter’s metal hull.

“Presenting, His Highness Prince-Consort Sea Hawk,” said the guard-butler-secretary, with a level of formality that Scorpia was preeeeeeetty sure meant contempt.

“HELLO!” Sea Hawk greeted with an excited leap, scooping up the pad and launching himself backwards into a nearby chair. “My bright shining starlight how _are_ you?”

“Great! It’s been a pretty normal day over here, nothing too much to report--oh, but we did get a newcomer today! A photographer, looking into, I dunno, film and cameras and stuff?”

“Ooo well if there is ever a need for a model,” Sea Hawk said with a stroke of his mustache, puffing up his chest in the way he did when he wanted to be admired. Scorpia laughed.

“I’ll put in a good word for you.”

“Indeed you must, for what is the purpose of a camera if not to photograph _this!?”_ Sea Hawk asked with a flex of his muscles, angling the pad a little wonky as he did so. “Though I must say you are looking gorgeous today Scorpia, have I seen that dress before?”

“Uh, probably, but I wouldn’t have worn it since spring at the earliest, maybe last fall…” she mumbled, lifting a claw tip to her chin. She shook her head. “Either way, how are you!? How’s life in Salineas?”

“You know, pretty good! My dear, sweet Mermista and I went carousing with a couple of acquaintances we met at the anemone shindig, and it was actually really fun! They’re less,” Sea Hawk cleared his throat, “pyromanially inclined than my beautiful, precious Mermista and I are, but our excursion was, nevertheless, a grand _adventure!”_

“Oh tell me all about it!” Scorpia prompted, resettling herself on the couch so she was a bit more comfortable. They ended up talking for well over an hour, about life in general as well as the most recent installment of Mer-Mysteries that Mermista had insisted all the other princesses read. Scorpia thought it was a little dense, and was vindicated to hear Sea Hawk felt the same. 

After, Scorpia took another stab at knitting. It was certainly hard with her claws, but so help her she was _going_ to knit Catra a sweater that said Meow and a hat with little pom poms on it. This was her goal. If not by this winter solstice, _definitely_ by the next. 

She was caught off guard when she glanced up at the clock on the wall and saw how late it was. She yawned, and laughed at herself. Emily had returned to Entrapta at some point during the evening, and so she stood, stretched out her back and neck (oof, knitting was fun but it did her posture no favors), and set off in search of Entrapta.

Scorpia checked the dining hall first, finding a pair of Guild members still sitting there, mugs of gently steaming beverages held idly in their hands as they rested their arms on the table. They paused their subdued conversation when Scorpia poked her head in, but she just smiled, waved, and took her leave again. Entrapta would sometimes linger there all evening, like those two had, enthusiastically chatting until the sun went down. On those nights, more of a crowd remained, everyone eager to talk to Princess Entrapta, hero of Etheria, compass point of the Etherian Maker’s Guild, knower of stuff. It wasn’t that she was reclusive, just that she had her lab and they had theirs.

And her lab was exactly where Scorpia found her, cross-legged atop Emily, fingers rattle-clicking against the keyboard as she typed too fast for Scorpia to really see. Scorpia came up behind the pair and slid her claws around Entrapta’s waist, propping her chin on top of Entrapta’s face shield. “Hey sweetie.”

“Hi!” Entrapta returned, not looking away from the screen.

“Guess what time it is?”

Entrapta paused, then stiffened. “What, no, it can’t possibly be that late al--” Entrapta cut off as she pulled a small pocket watch from her deep, deep pockets and found out that it was, in fact, that late already.

“How much have you got left to do before a stopping point?” Scorpia asked, eyes skimming over the wall of text in front of her and comprehending absolutely none of it. Her wife was so smart. Her wife was so _smart_ and talented and skillful and pretty. Scorpia loved her so much.

“I need to finish documenting this, run the trial I have already set up, document that, and summarize into my recorder,” Entrapta stated, fingers flying once again. 

“Okay, let your lab assistant know if I can assist with anything,” Scorpia said, ducking to press a kiss to Entrapta’s cheek before releasing the hug around her middle. “Emily, could you go ask Shirley to run a bath for us?” Scorpia asked, since it sounded like Entrapta would be able to wrap up pretty quickly that night. Spare time for a nice soak. 

Scorpia watched her love bound over to a machine Scorpia didn’t know the use of, lower her face shield, plug a wire into its side with a brief spark, and turn to Scorpia. 

“Hey, sweetie could you pull that red lever?”

Scorpia looked to her right, then her left. “Oh, this one?”

“Yep!”

Scorpia did as she was asked, and the lights flickered briefly before returning to full strength, the machine now emitting a strange noise and moving in a way that might be considered “rattling.” Scorpia watched with mild curiosity and Entrapta cackled wildly, obviously delighted. “Pull the lever back up!” she called, and Scorpia did so.

“Oh that went so much better than I thought! I will need to run further experiments to determine which combination of variables led to this but I think it’s safe to say that the copper was definitely a step in the right direction!” Entrapta gleefully exclaimed, launching herself back to the computer and fingers flying across the keyboard once again. Oh that was way shorter than Scorpia had expected. The bath probably wouldn’t even be full by the time they reached it.

Or maybe it would; Entrapta’s summaries could get lengthy and it sounded like she’d accomplished a lot that day. Scorpia stood behind her, patiently waiting, and was far from surprised when Entrapta launched herself immediately from her screen back to the device. Scorpia caught her in one claw, then scooped underneath her with the second. She smiled at her, watching Entrapta owlishly blink before looking up at her.

“Right. Right, going to sleep on a regular schedule. Just, just _one_ more trial?”

It never worked. Scorpia was very firm about wrangling her wife into bed at a reasonable hour. Still, it was part of their routine for Entrapta to ask anyway. She shook her head knowingly.

“Pleeeeease?”

Scorpia laughed, kissed her, and murmured, “No, love.”

“Pretty please with a cherry on top?” Entrapta bargained, but already had her recorder in hair. “Summary, date…”

Scorpia stood there, wife in her arms, contentedly letting her voice wash over her once again. Sometimes Entrapta needed to double check something in the lab, so it was a fool’s errand to try and leave before she was done for the day, but that night she stayed right where she was. Scorpia nuzzled against one pigtail sleepily, warm little body all bundled up in her arms, and Scorpia was pretty sure she could stay like this forever.

They should have kids.

It was a thought Scorpia had been toying with on and off. They’d been so busy, after everything, and she knew that, realistically, they hadn’t even been married for _that_ long. But they had Emily, and wouldn’t it be nice to have another little one? Or two? And hey, Glimmer had gotten pregnant basically right after she and Bow got married, so.

Hm… maybe a conversation for the morning. For that night, Scorpia simply allowed herself to be enthusiastically kissed when Entrapta was finished, and carried her wife back to their room. Shirley and Beverly were there waiting for her, and helped her strip down and join Entrapta in the bath, who had a much quicker time undressing.

“They picked the amber and vanilla bubbles,” Entrapta announced as Scorpia sank in, the water _just_ on the right side of hot. Scorpia took a sniff, humming as the scent hit her. 

“They did,” she agreed contentedly, slipping down in the massive tub and getting bubbles on her chin and cheeks. Entrapta cozied up to her, wet locks of hair slithering around her waist and shoulders as Entrapta pillowed herself on her chest.

“If we’re not careful I might fall asleep in here,” Scorpia remarked.

“Good day?”

“Mm-hmm,” Scorpia hummed, dragging a claw softly through her lover’s hair. “Yours?”

“Excellent! I made great strides today, with the data I’ve collected I very well may reach the end of this experiment before the week is up!”

“That’s great sweetie!” 

“What did you get up to?” Entrapta asked, knowing that Scorpia _liked_ to be asked. She reached out a lock of wet hair and grabbed a sponge and bottle of soap, lathering the sponge before washing Scorpia for her. Scorpia felt deeply pampered.

She told Entrapta about her afternoon and evening, about the reports, about the construction work, about the gossip she’d picked up while chatting and the resources they’d need to reallocate for a little while, about Sea Hawk and his adventures and knitting and how determined she was to get Catra a sweater even if it killed her.

“And then, I saw this beautiful lady,” Scorpia said, Entrapta’s hands in Scorpia’s sudsy hair, the last part of either of them that needed cleaning.

“Oh?”

“The prettiest lady in the world, in fact,” Scorpia led, “She was in this laboratory, really busy with something smart and important.”

Entrapta scoffed, blushing, and looked away with a dopey smile. Smelling weakness, Scorpia leaned in with a big ol’ grin, water sloshing around them. “She has these gorgeous hands and really long purple hair that I could card my claws through allllll day.”

Entrapta giggled, pushing at Scorpia’s face, but Scorpia had her about the waist and there would be no escape. “I just wanna kiss her and hold her and tell her how much I love her every day and--” Entrapta upended water over Scorpia’s hair, effectively rinsing out the suds and shutting her up. Her wife was efficient like that.

“Oh, now you’ve done it!” Scorpia barked, laughing, and dunked Entrapta in the bath. She came up giggling, hair twisting and curling all over Scorpia and flipping them around, dunking Scorpia this time. Scorpia surged up and kissed Entrapta right in the neck, earning a squeal out of her, and then playfully nibbled at her skin. Entrapta hummed, then angled her head so they were kissing, wet hands caressing Scorpia’s jaw and holding her around the shoulders, fitting up against her so perfectly they may as well have been a drawer and shelf. Scorpia eventually broke the kiss with a contented sigh, eyes opening slowly.

“Mmm, we should dry off and get dressed,” Entrapta said, pushing Scorpia’s hair out of her face.

“That’s so far away though,” Scorpia protested tokenly. She stood, water cascading off them, and Entrapta twirled her hair into a ponytail and wrung it out over the bath. Since her hair was mobile, she could get it pretty dry.

Beverly helped Scorpia dry off and Shirley helped her into her nightgown. “Night girls,” Scorpia bade with a yawn, scooping Entrapta back up and tucking them both into bed. Some people slept with one eye open, but Scorpia slept with one arm anchoring Entrapta to the bed, because her brain _was_ constantly churning and she would get out of bed and work until she passed out from exhaustion if Scorpia didn’t keep her there.

“I love you,” Scorpia said, because she did. God, she did, so much. So much sometimes she felt like her heart couldn’t possibly stand it.

Entrapta kissed her, hair splayed out over both of them, and clicked off their lamp with a, “I love you too.”

**Author's Note:**

> Comments/Concrit always welcome <3


End file.
